Monday, May 13, 2013

Mesa Water Stifles Public Awareness?

SURF CITY VOICE

I don't know how many of you read the Surf City Voice, a blog operated by John Earl
that focuses mainly, but not exclusively, on Huntington Beach issues,
but I suggest you give it a look when you have time. You can find it HERE.FOCUSED ON WATER ISSUES LATELY

Earl has been tightly focused on Mesa Water District recently, primarily
due to their involvement in the Poseidon desalination plant that's
being planned for Huntington Beach. He's become a real burr under
Mesa's blanket in recent months, writing critically about many issues
involving their operations, including their expensive "branding" effort
that's been in the news lately.

I've not paid much attention to Mesa over the years. I've felt the
operation was well-run and cost effective, so there didn't seem to be
much to criticize. However, lately I've become a little more in tune
with operations there and the major players involved. It's become more
visible on my radar because of the cross-pollination of members of the
Mesa Board and Costa Mesa city committees and commissions.

RE-BRANDING AND CASH MANAGEMENT

For example, Mesa recently proposed using a for-profit organization to
help manage their cash. Then, out of the blue, a similar scheme is
proposed by the new Finance Advisory Committee - which includes members
of the Mesa board. And then there's the whole "re-branding" issue on
which they will have spent nearly $300,000 of ratepayer dollars.
NO BLOGGERS ALLOWED

According to John Earl in his piece, no bloggers will be credentialed to attend any Mesa official function.
I guess there is an assumption that bloggers are automatically critics
of their operations, hence they will lock them out of any chance to
observe and ask questions about operations at Mesa events. You can read Mesa Water's Media Credentialing PolicyHERE. As an aside,
in that video you'll hear Mesa Communication Director Stacey Taylor
tick off the names of media organizations credentialed for the event
Earl was attempting to attend. The only local media outlet she
mentioned was KOCI - the local radio station to which Mesa provides
significant funding. No mention of the Daily Pilot nor the Orange
County Register - the two main sources of local news in our area. I
thought that was more than a little strange."TRANSPARENCY" WHEN IT'S CONVENIENT

Mesa touts its "transparency", yet apparently seeks to stifle reporting
of their operations by some of us with a large local readership.
Unfortunately, this kind of attitude is insidious, so I'll be watching
to see if this infection spreads to City operations, too.

12 Comments:

johny wants a badge said...

i read the policy link, did you? you may still attend if open to the public but not as a credentialed media if you are just a blogger. You would be a private person. Policy doesn't appear to be focused on bloggers, it is about credentialing legitimate press from what i read. we have that at my private place of work and most large corporations have a policy too. Very smart. Not everyone is legitimate press except in their own minds. some are opinion bloggers who don't know how to act in public. that's why the Pilot, koci, and even the city of costa mesa's brad long and camera got into the event and Earl didn't. But many regular citizens, including me, were there too, just not as press.

just read all the links. interesting finds: west says water has a policy for outside investment firms to manage investments, uh, nope, wrong.earl comments on "all male" board of directors (who are elected, btw)and shows an all male picture he labels as "clueless directors pointing shovels..." there are four male directors shown BUT a FIFTH shovel in the picture, as if a Director has been cropped out on the right hand side. looks like FEmale hands holding shovel? Hall?Earl states he didn't bother to apply for credentials yet complains they were not issued to him? Gotta say, one real reporter there, he should be given the Pulitzer in fact. Puhleese....

photoshop - are you talking about Trudy? The person kinda of cast off to the side in the photo? It was obvious she wasn't as into the scene as the others, anyone can can see that. I find Mesa's top management decision making a bit smelly lately.

“Like my boy tells me; if it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.” Terrell Owens quote

i didn't call anyone a rat mr sk.i just said there was a 5th shovel being held by an apparent pair of female hands. u draw ur own conclusion on the mystery person sir. i not know if they look or smell like a rat, they have been cropped out. i pointed it out as a reason to distrust the "reporter".

No, you could NOT attend the VIP "invitation only" event unless you were invited, duh!!!In government, "legitimate press" are usually the ones who don't challenge you. I guess knowing how to act in public, to you, means being a stooge.

Dear Photoshop: As to the picture of the missing Trudy-- I did not intend to cut her out, it just appeared that way for reasons beyond my programing knowledge. But once I saw it I liked it that way because Trudy had nothing to do with the press credential fiasco but the five men (including the four pictured) did. Also, you got it wrong about my wanting press credentials. I did not object to not receiving that which I didn't ask for but because I didn't need any credentials from Mesa Water--I get mine from my experience as a journalist and from the First Amendment and all that it means to live in a democracy, the latter being quite sufficient in itself, thank you.

byboiThe Mesa Water Board Directors allocated $500,000 for a PR Campaign......in a water district that almost 60% of it's residents can't even say where their water comes from. The Districts reasoning behind this is because they want more residents to feel better about where their water comes from.Of course .....along the way they raised our rates to do this........................&*%$%_)(_%%$#^%

Greg and I disagree on many, many (how many "many"s could I use here? Yes, many!) things, but I am with him on this one. Re-branding a monopoly? Seriously? I also don't understand a private VIP party at the expense of ratepayers. If I am paying for this party why wasn't I (and all other ratepayers) invited?

Links to this post:

About Me

REGISTRATION REQUIRED TO COMMENT
* To register, email to thepotstirer@earthlink.net :
* Pen name, (do not use "Anonymous") full name, valid email address and telephone number
* 1 pen name per person. Don't use another persons proper name.
* Comments without prior registration will be rejected - NO EXCEPTIONS
* Details at http://bit.ly/16kGDVh